More than half of ASEAN policymakers (51%) agree that climate change is the biggest obstacle currently facing ASEAN food systems. A majority also believe that climate change has a widespread negative impact on agricultural issues in ASEAN such as maintaining soil quality (92%), managing plant disease (88%), ensuring sufficient crop yields (88%), and managing pests/infestations (85%).

These findings and others are part of the research white paper released today titled Policymaker Survey: Climate Change Impact on ASEAN Agriculture. Conducted by market research company PSB Insights and made possible through cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and CropLife Asia, this initiative is designed to better understand the impact of climate change on agriculture, food production and smallholder farmers in the ASEAN region. Both quantitative and qualitative interviews were conducted for this research.

The research further revealed that ASEAN policymakers are acutely aware of the devastating impact of climate change on smallholder farmers, with over 60% of them strongly agreeing that farmers will be negatively affected the most by climate change impact to food productivity/security. Additionally, over four-in-five (86%) policymakers said that providing better education about the use of agricultural tech and sciences, and innovation in the areas of agricultural tech and science would be ‘very important’ in mitigating the impact of climate change on farmers in the region.

The full report can be accessed on CropLife Asia’s website here: http://www.croplifeasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Policymaker-Survey-Impact-of-Climate-Change-on-ASEAN-Agriculture-FINAL-April-2022.pdf